Mutter Halloumi
Mutter paneer is very well-known Indian dish made with green peas and paneer along with spices. It’s creamy and delicious with rotis or rice. I have replaced paneer with Halloumi to bring some twist to the recipe. Not a fan of halloumi, just use paneer or tofu.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
Onion - tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- 1-2 green chilies
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 2 tbsp almond or cashews
- 1 tbsp ghee or butter use oil for vegan
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp honey or sugar
- Salt to taste
- 8 oz halloumi chopped into cubes or sliced
- 1 cup green peas
- Cilantro
- Lemon wedge
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan, once the oil is hot, add in the green chilies, ginger, garlic, onions and saute it until onions turn translucent.
- Add tomatoes and almonds at this time and let it cook for few more minutes until tomatoes break down.
- Once the tomatoes are done, let the mixture cool down and then blend it using a blender until smooth in consistency. Set aside.
- In a pan on medium heat, warm some ghee or butter, (if you are making it vegan use oil).
- Add in cumin seeds, once they crackle add bay leaf followed by onion-tomato mix. Add 2 tbsp tomato paste as well.
- Add in all the spices like red chili powder, turmeric, coriander cumin powder and garam masala, salt.
- If you are adding honey or sugar, you can add it now. Mix everything well and when the spices and ghee starts leaving the sides of the pan, add 1 cup of water.
- Let the sauce simmer for 2-3 minutes and add in the halloumi or paneer pieces along with peas. Sprinkle cardamom powder.
- Let it simmer for another minute and sprinkle chopped cilantro and squeeze a little bit of lemon if you like.
- Serve it hot with rotis or steamed rice.
Notes
- If you like you can grill halloumi on medium heat just until it gets brown grill marks. Remove it and set aside until its added in.
- If you are using fresh peas, you want either blanch them in hot water for few minutes or microwave them for few minutes in water or you can use frozen peas as well.
- If you want to use paneer, then leave the paneer at room temperature in warm water for 10 minutes. It becomes nice and squidgy.
- Vegan - Use oil and grilled tofu.